THE CRAWLER'S COMPANIONpatch notes for the apocalypse

Hob-lobber

First seen: Book 2, Chapter 16

A hobgoblin-made round bomb, a hair smaller than a baseball but dense and heavy, sold at Hobgobs and Boom Sticks. Comes in two kinds: impact-enchanted, dangerous enough that Hob-Lobbing Lobbers use almost nothing else and you must not drop them, and fused, impact-resistant and stable, lit like a stick of dynamite then thrown. Yield is an eighth of a hobgoblin stick, or half a goblin stick. Carl buys a case of 25 fused ones, the last Pustule has in stock.

ConsumableStrength Tiers

Appearance

A hair smaller than a baseball, dense and heavy. Impact-enchanted ones go off on contact, dangerous enough that Hob-Lobbing Lobbers, the hobgoblin equivalent of a Bomb Bard per Mordecai, use almost nothing else; fused ones are impact-resistant and stable, lit then thrown like a stick of dynamite. Yield is an eighth of a hobgoblin stick, or half a goblin stickB2C16

Connections

Carl:

Judges his quarter-strength hob-lobbers still too strong for close combat and plans to craft an even weaker versionB4C3

Buys three more boxes from Pustule, the impact-enchanted kind this time rather than fused; not thrown on the page this chapterB2C21

Pre-lights ten of them before heading out, shaving two and a half seconds off the six-to-seven-second fuse; throws two with his xistera during the Shambling Berserker ambush, the first killing something else near the anti-magic elf, the second finishing that elfB2C18

Buys the last case of fused ones, 25 for 500 gold, bundled with two cases of goblin dynamiteB2C16

History by chapter
Book 2
Chapter 16
  • TAG Consumable: A hobgoblin-made thrown bomb, sold at Hobgobs and Boom Sticks
  • PHYSICAL Effects: A hair smaller than a baseball, dense and heavy. Impact-enchanted ones go off on contact, dangerous enough that Hob-Lobbing Lobbers, the hobgoblin equivalent of a Bomb Bard per Mordecai, use almost nothing else; fused ones are impact-resistant and stable, lit then thrown like a stick of dynamite. Yield is an eighth of a hobgoblin stick, or half a goblin stick
  • RELATIONSHIP Carl: Buys the last case of fused ones, 25 for 500 gold, bundled with two cases of goblin dynamite
Chapter 18
  • RELATIONSHIP Carl: Pre-lights ten of them before heading out, shaving two and a half seconds off the six-to-seven-second fuse; throws two with his xistera during the Shambling Berserker ambush, the first killing something else near the anti-magic elf, the second finishing that elf
Chapter 21
  • RELATIONSHIP Carl: Buys three more boxes from Pustule, the impact-enchanted kind this time rather than fused; not thrown on the page this chapter
Book 4
Chapter 3
  • TAG Strength Tiers: Carl now carries at least quarter-strength and full-strength versions; a quarter-strength one finishes a Thorny Devil at roughly 30 feet, close enough to still shower the party in debris, and a full-strength one detonating near a fleeing Gnomish Drop Bear is loud enough to hurt Mongo's ears from a hilltop away
  • RELATIONSHIP Carl: Judges his quarter-strength hob-lobbers still too strong for close combat and plans to craft an even weaker version
Chapter 6
  • TAG Strength Tiers: The weaker version pays off, a hob-lobber's wick and fuse alone, with no explosive charge, becomes the basis for Carl's new sparklers
Chapter 7
  • TAG Strength Tiers: An eighth-strength tier is now in his rotation too, thrown down City Hall's basement hallway to cover the escape; it sets off a much larger secondary explosion that partially collapses the ceiling